In this Issue: April 2012

I am so excited to be a part of this noble academic enterprise, the Journal of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology (JAOCR). I am even more humbled to be invited to preside over its first musculoskeletal issue, namely because of the magnitude of the platform I have been given to reach out to radiologists everywhere.

When I was first approached about contributing to the Journal, I thought long and hard about a topic that would be interesting and challenging. In this issue, we present a two-part series reviewing MR imaging of bone marrow. Dr. Still professed over a century ago that before we can begin to understand what is abnormal we must first understand what is normal. Thus, part I of the series delves into normal marrow, its composition and normal pattern of maturation. The latter part of the first article and the entire second article are then devoted to discussing the various categories of marrow disease.

I am also delighted to present four noteworthy cases in our Case Report section which are written with emphasis on a gamut-based or differential diagnosis approach. We then round out the issue with three cases in the At The Viewbox section that I like to describe as “eye candy” for the radiologist.

I am thankful to the AOCR for this wonderful opportunity. I wish to thank William O’Brien, D.O., for his warm and thoughtful invitation to write for the Journal which to any outside observer could have been interpreted as a Jedi mind trick, and for his expertise and advice in the critical review of the content in this issue. I want to extend my gratitude to Scot Campbell, M.D., for his diplomatic constructive criticism of both review articles, to Rebecca Kessler, D.O., for undertaking the more difficult half of the marrow review, and to Liem Mansfield, M.D., for contributing his educational material, valuable time, and sage experience. I also wish to thank all of the Case Report contributors, including Russ Chapin, M.D., Colin “I am the manager!” Strickland M.D., Matt Minor, M.D., David Shulman, M.D., and W. Banks ‘Honeytruck’ Petrey, M.D., for putting up with my incessant and entirely unnecessary pestering about deadlines. To my At The Viewbox contributors, you are the 180 degree refocusing pulse to my 90 degree RF pulse; without you this issue would dephase. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife Laura for supporting me in this consuming endeavor when she much rather would have preferred to allow our infant son to dismantle my computer as I typed.

Please enjoy this musculoskeletal issue of the JAOCR. We certainly enjoyed pooling our academic spirit to bring it to you.

The views expressed in this material are those of the author, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Air Force.